K.S.A. 60-208.General rules of pleadings

Subsection (a) tells a party what a pleading demanding relief needs: a short and plain statement showing entitlement to relief, and a demand for the relief sought, which can include alternative or different types of relief. Money-damages pleading follows a dollar-figure rule tied to $75,000: outside contract actions, a pleading demanding damages above that amount must state only that the amount sought exceeds $75,000, without naming a specific figure, while a pleading demanding $75,000 or less must specify the amount sought.

Subsection (b) governs how a party responds to a pleading. It must state its defenses in short, plain terms and admit or deny each allegation, and a denial has to address the substance of what's alleged. A party that means to deny everything in good faith, including jurisdictional grounds, can use a general denial; one that doesn't intend to deny everything must either specifically deny particular allegations or generally deny all but the ones it admits. A party can admit part of an allegation and deny the rest, and a party that lacks knowledge or information to form a belief about an allegation must say so — that statement counts as a denial. An allegation is treated as admitted if a responsive pleading is required and the allegation goes undenied, except for allegations about the amount of damages; where no responsive pleading is required, an allegation is treated as denied or avoided.

Subsection (c) requires a party to affirmatively state any avoidance or affirmative defense when responding to a pleading, naming defenses such as accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, assumption of risk, contributory negligence or comparative fault, duress, estoppel, failure of consideration, fraud, illegality, injury by fellow servant, laches, license, payment, release, res judicata, statute of frauds, statute of limitations, and waiver. If a party mistakenly labels a defense as a counterclaim, or a counterclaim as a defense, the court must treat the pleading as correctly designated when justice requires, and may impose terms for doing so.

Subsection (d) requires each allegation to be simple, concise, and direct, with no technical form required, and lets a party plead alternative or hypothetical statements of a claim or defense — the pleading holds up if any one of those statements is sufficient — and plead as many separate, even inconsistent, claims or defenses as it has. Subsection (e) closes the section with a single instruction: pleadings must be construed so as to do justice.